Time of Ruin (The Ash and Ruin Trilogy #2) by Shauna Granger ~ Cover Reveal!!!

I am SO excited to be a part of the cover reveal for Time of Ruin, the second book in the Ash and Ruin trilogy by Shauna Granger!! After reading the first book, World of Ash, I've been looking forward to this one. This cover is SO bad ass - what do you think? 

~ Here it is - the cover for Time of Ruin! ~ 

Time of Ruin (Ash and Ruin #2)

by Shauna Granger

Release Date: 07/22/14

Summary from Goodreads:
The world has ended, and hope is the most dangerous thing left.

Battered and bruised after barely escaping San Francisco with their lives, Kat, Dylan, and Blue press north – desperate to reach the possibility of a new home.

But strange, monstrous ravens are tracking the remaining survivors, food is becoming scarce, gasoline is running short, and people are becoming suicidal, making survival almost impossible.

And the Pestas are growing bolder. Somehow, their numbers are growing.

The further north they go, the harder it becomes to ignore the signs that they’ve made a fatal mistake. Kat must face the impossible truth that there is no escape, there is no safe haven, and their worst nightmares don’t come close to their new reality.

Book One:
(linked to Goodreads)

Click here for my review of the first book, World of Ash. 

About the Author

Like so many other writers, Shauna grew up as an avid reader, but it was in high school that she realized she wanted to be a writer. Five years ago, Shauna started work on her Elemental Series. She released the first installment, Earth, on May 1, 2011 and has since released four sequels, with the series coming to an end with Spirit. She is currently hard at work on a new Urban Fantasy series, staring a spunky witch with a smush-faced cat named Artemis.

Author Links:

   

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Wonderfully Wicked by C.J. Burright Blitz ~ Excerpt & Giveaway!

The cover drew me in, and once I read the synopsis and excerpt, both posted below, I knew this book was going on my TBR. It sounds exciting! What do you think? Will this book be going on your TBR? Don't forget to enter the giveaway! 

Wonderfully Wicked

by CJ Burright

Release Date: 05/13/14

Summary from Goodreads:

A dreamcaster with the ability to channel creatures from her nightmares, headstrong and cynical Kalila Montgomery longs for a peaceful, picket-fence life…until the man literally of her dreams kidnaps her. Survival quickly becomes her number one goal, yet a growing attraction to the man in her nightmares is impossible to ignore. While she fears he will kill her, other, more terrifying enemies surround her, and Kalila succumbs to his scheme to escape. She may be his one hope for freedom…A deadly combination of power, cunning, and cold-hearted charm, Lydon v'al Endrian fears nothing. Feels nothing.

Chained to a brotherhood of men with the supernatural ability to invade dreams, he hunts dreamcasters to be harvested for their dreams and killed. His target: Kalila Montgomery. But Kalila awakens an undeniable dark desire and a longing for a freedom long-lost. To gain everything he craves, Lydon must seduce Kalila before his plot is discovered…a hopeless challenge which, if failed, will earn him a death-sentence. Caught up in a dangerous world of secrets and obsession, doubt and betrayal, Kalila and Lydon face the nightmare of their lives, where love will either deliver them—or destroy them both.

Available from:

Amazon * Kobo

Excerpt:

“I took great effort to see you.” His tone hinted the act made him deserving. “You sleep; I’ll keep watch. And my vow of yesterday stands. I won’t molest you.”

To her annoyance, her pulse danced a country jig. Whatever efforts he took on her behalf were of questionable nature, not romantic. She made a rude noise in case he held any such illusions.

“Keep watch for what? No one besides you could reach my window and my door’s bolted.”

Lydon laced his hands behind his head, his lips twitching as though fighting a smile. “Then I’ll watch you. Like before.”

Horror prickled over her in a rushing tide. She leapt up. “You watched me sleep? Not skulked around in my bedroom to attack me?” She groaned, imagining him watching her drool, snore, or grind her teeth.

He laughed, low and warm. “You’re so lovely when you dream, Lils. An angel.” He patted the empty spot beside him.

Her traitorous body, defenseless against him, obeyed. The red, silken comforter hissed beneath her knees while she climbed onto the opposite side of the giant bed. The lone lamp by the bed cast a mystical glow over Lydon, catching golden highlights in his light hair, the silver shards in his eyes. “Watching people sleep is creepy.”

He shrugged. “Not people, just you. Besides, I am creepy.”

Definitely not creepy. Kalila settled into a cross-legged position and fixed him with a no-nonsense look. “Since it seems you have nothing better to do than lie there like a sloth, be useful and fess up. Why am I being treated as some freaking porcelain doll in a glass case? How can my nightmares benefit the V’alkara? Can the V’alkara really take my dreams away? None of you seem sick—and no, mental doesn’t count—so what’s wrong? And when will you take us home?”

Lydon jiggled one black boot. What she thought might be disapproval flickered in his eyes. “I won’t waste our alone time answering inquiries. I have other plans.”

She swallowed hard. Maybe she’d misjudged him. Maybe he was so confident in his assassin abilities—and her helplessness—he felt sneakiness was unnecessary.

He sat up in a blink of an eye, moving with inhuman speed. One large hand was planted next to her knee. His breath fanned her chin. The scent of the outdoors and a tinge of smoke drifted from his clothes. His voice whispered spider-soft.

“Do you care to know what other less attractive names some call me?” The world seemed to shrink to Lydon and the force of his gaze. “Angel of Ruin. Living Nightmare. Scourge.” His eyes gleamed, darkened. “As you might guess from such monikers, peace in my life is rare. I’ll relish any fragments of it I happen to stumble across for as long as possible.”

His fingers trailed her cheek to cup her chin. In the span of a heartbeat, his face changed. From beautiful man to skeletal beast then back to beautiful man. A chill coiled around her soul, deep and cold as a winter storm. Who—what—was this guy?

“Do you feel it too?”

Kalila’s heartbeat rumbled in her ears, kicked at her throat. Her fingers jerked with a fierce need to touch him. Instead, she fisted the blanket. Admit nothing to the enemy. Yet the urge to nestle her cheek into his palm and purr grappled with reason. She had to take control before she did something stupid.

About the Author

CJ blames her love for reading and all things Medieval on her father, who plied her often with fantasy novels ranging from Sir Lloyd Alexander to Piers Anthony.  Her love for romance, however, lies completely at the feet of her best friend Michelle, who dared to give her a romance novel for her birthday.  She smiled, politely said thank you, and tossed it in the corner, where it gathered dust.  In a moment of desperation, when only the revolting romance remained in her almost-always toppling stack of awaiting books, she sucked it up and read the romance. Doomed. 

She started writing fantasy and paranormal romance for the cathartic experience, decided she liked it, and after two overlong, horribly written novels joined RWA and the Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal special interest chapter.  Best classes and critique groups ever.  Double doomed. Now, writing is a necessity, not just a hobby.

In her spare time, when she’s not writing or reading or actually working, CJ might be found in the dojang (4th Dan Black Belt, baby), rooting on the Mariners (who will some day win the World Series), working out (P90X, anyone?), gardening (a little dirt never hurt anyone), or playing Music of the Night on the piano (without mask or cape). She lives in Oregon with her fabulous husband and daughter. Not to mention her minions, a herd of cats.

WONDERFULLY WICKED is CJ's Burright's first novel.

Author Links:

   

GIVEAWAY:

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Cover Reveal ~ Karma by Charity Ferrell

Today I'm bringing to you the cover reveal for Karma by Charity Ferrell. The cover looks awesome, and it together with the synopsis has me intrigued. What do you think about the cover and synopsis? 

Karma by Charity Ferrell

Publication date: June 2014

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Cover reveal organized by: Xpresso Book Tours 

Cover designed by: E.M. Tippetts Book Design 

Add: Goodreads

Synopsis

I'm cursed. Yes, you read that right and this isn't some paranormal fantasy. This is my real life. Karma has decided to lash out on me. I'll never find my true love and I'm learning to accept that. The only problem is: he isn't. He's starting a war with karma and everyone knows karma always fights back with a vengeance.

After deciding to take a year off from school, Gabby Taylor's forced to intern for a Crisis PR firm. On her first day, she runs into the one guy she's been fighting to avoid. The guy whose family despises her and she'd drunkenly given her virginity away to. How's she supposed to fix other people's problems when she can't even manage her own? 

About the Author

Charity Ferrell was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and still resides there with her future hubby, two Yorkies (who run the house), and cat. When she's not writing, you can find her reading, spending time with her crazy family or watching too much TV.

You can interact and find more information at:

http://facebook.com/authorcharityferrell 

Twitter: @charity_ferrell

Instagram: charityferrell

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Cover Reveal ~ Calling California by J.P. Grider

I'm thrilled to help reveal the cover for Calling California by J.P. Grider due out in June! I love it - the couple, the black and white photo of the couple with the orange, white, and blue lettering over it. What do you think? 

Calling California by J.P. Grider

Publication date: June 2014

Genre: New Adult Romance

Cover Reveal organized by: Xpresso Book Tours

Cover designed by Love of Reading Cover Design

Add: Goodreads 

Synopsis

Cali Parker is poor. She has a lot on her plate - her father is dying, she's working to help pay the rent, and she's two years behind in college.

Griffin Brooks is rich. He has not a care in the world - he's acing his engineering courses, his hobby is restoring his fifty-thousand dollar classic car, and he has a different girl on his arm every week.

When Cali sees Griffin on her first day of class, she's immediately smitten and thinks she's found the perfect guy. When Griffin sees Cali at the bank, he immediately forgets the blonde he was with that morning. Then they meet, and their worlds collide. 

Cali doesn't belong in Griffin's world, and he doesn't understand hers. But just when Griffin convinces Cali that their two different worlds can blend, a secret is revealed that tears them apart.

Is their love strong enough to bring them back together, or will their worlds drift further apart?

About the Author

 

J.P. Grider is a Young Adult and New Adult author. She is the author of six novels. Her young adult series The Honor Trilogy consists of A Touch of Honor, A Man of Honor, and A Heart of Honor, while her first two novels - Unplugged (A Portrait of a Rock Star) and Maybe This Life - are standalone adult contemporary novels. 

Her most recent release is the new adult romance Calling California, which is the first in her Hunter Hill University series. The next book in the series - Mending Mick - will be released in October 2014. All the books in the Hunter Hill University series will be standalone books and can be read in any order. 

You can follow J.P. on Facebook at J.P. Grider, Author, on Instagram and Twitter @JPGrider1, and on her blog at http://jpgrider.com.

Links

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads   

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Think Out Loud #32 ~ A Bittersweet Day

Have something you'd like to talk about that's non-bookish? Join this meme hosted by Thinks Books! Get to know your fellow bloggers outside the bookish realm! Click here for the 411. Every Thursday or whenever you can! :D

Since I became a mom, Mother's Day has become a bittersweet day for me. My mom died of brain cancer in August of '95, almost twenty years ago. She had just turned forty in June. I was fourteen, and my sister was nine. A couple of weeks after she died, my freshman year of high school started.

That first year I walked around in a daze. I wasn't sad. I wasn't angry. I was just numb. 

Then my sophomore year came, and everything went to hell. I lost my friends for a period of time. I nearly stopped sleeping at night - I'd get maybe three or four hours if I was lucky. When I came home from school, I'd sleep the evening away in my room. The pain from my loss was so intense, it hurt to breathe. I thought my heart was literally breaking. My grades dropped. For the first time, I began struggling in school. 

My mom in high school, I think her

freshman year of high school 

I slipped into depression and anxiety. I became a cutter not long after graduating high school. I had suicidal thoughts and overwhelming feelings of helplessness and loneliness. I could be in a crowd of people and feel completely alone. I've been in and out of therapy since I was fifteen. None of it has worked. 

I was scared cancer was coming after me next. My maternal grandfather had died of the same type of brain cancer not terribly long before my mom was diagnosed. I remember thinking, how much more can one family take? It's coming for me, it has to be - I'm next in line. The nightmare of watching someone you love being attacked by an unseen enemy all over again seemed too much to bear.  

My mom's senior year photo

I had fourteen years with her, but it wasn't enough. It will never be enough. She wasn't there when I graduated from high school or college, when I got married and had kids. I remember thinking both times I was in labor all I wanted was my mom there to coach me through it. I didn't want anyone else but her. 

My parents - taken at Christmas when 

they were dating in high school 

When my grandpa died of brain cancer, she sat down on the living room floor with me and my sister. I crawled onto her lap, she hugged me, and we cried. She kept a journal while he was going through radiation and later chemotherapy. I read all of it though I knew it was meant to be private. Everything she wrote was how I felt later on when she went through radiation and chemo herself.

I want to scream sometimes at the unfairness of it all. So many things I didn't get to do with her, so much time that slipped through our grasp. It's hard not to be bitter.  

After finding this picture of my 

mom, I bought a jacket similar to hers

and had my friends take a photo

of me making the same face as her. 

I still struggle with depression and anxiety. My cutting days ended not long before I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. I knew I had to find some other way to deal with the hurt and anger, so I began writing on my arms and legs with a Sharpie.  

The closer I get to forty, the more anxious I feel. She was thirty-eight years old when she was diagnosed, and that age makes me anxious, too. It feels like I won't make it past forty, either. I guess I hope I do although sometimes I wonder what the point of it all is - all the pain and suffering. I don't get it. Maybe it's about the good times. Maybe it's to see how we handle things, although I think that's pretty fucked up. 

While I still feel empty inside without her, I'm grateful I had the time with her that I did and that I'm still here to be with my kids. I wouldn't trade that time for anything. 

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I miss you everyday. 

IWSG #14 ~ May 2014

Alex J. Cavanaugh created this awesome group, which I'm proud to take part in every month (or just about every month, lol). The IWSG now has its own blog as well. Click here to add your post link to the list. 

The first Wednesday of every month you can share your worries without judgement and/or your triumphs with complimentary confetti! ;D Join us - it's fun, a great way to connect with fellow writers, and we all can support one another! 

I'm still feeling pretty good about this whole writing thing. ;) Right now I'm reading a book for review called All My Restless Life to Live by Dee DeTarsio, about a soap opera writer who gets mysterious messages from her dad's computer after her own crashes. This book reminds me of all the writing projects I used to work on when I was a kid. 

I have always been a soap opera fan. I've been watching soaps since I was in the womb! My mom and grandma watched all the CBS shows - The Young & the Restless, The Bold & the Beautiful, the now-defunct As the World Turns (R.I.P.!), and Guiding Light (also cancelled, R.I.P.!). My mom also bought Soap Opera Weekly, which I read RELIGIOUSLY. 

I'd make issues of my own soap magazine and write my own scripts for Young & the Restless and Bold & the Beautiful (early fan fic?). My Barbies would act out the scripts, lol. I'd make my sister be a couple characters, too.  

I used to write and draw comic books, inspired by the Archie comics I read. When I was in sixth grade, I wrote a "book" over my spring break called Seven Friends which was basically my idea of cool future plans for us all. Unfortunately, I lost it. >.< 

For English class that same year we had to write and illustrate a children's book. Mine was called The Pen and the Penguin, about a penguin author with writer's block who conquered it by working with his pen (who was alive of course!). I'm not sure if I still have it or not; one day I'm going to look for it at my dad's house. He told me my mom saved everything, but there were some things stored in the shed that he had to throw out when mice got into it (there's a cornfield behind his house). 

I used to make newsletters, too, and hand them out to my family. I'm sure they just loved those, haha. 

So thinking about all of this made me realize how much of my childhood I spent writing and dreaming of being an author. When I got into high school, I wrote poetry and short stories. I've kept a journal since I was nine years old. Look at all the book reviews and blog posts I write, too! 

My point is, so I may have put away that novel I began a while ago. But I'm still writing everyday. My goal is to allot ten minutes to writing my novel everyday. I think that's a totally doable goal to start out with, and if I write longer than ten minutes, then even better! 

I hope you enjoyed strolling with me down memory lane. Do you have any childhood projects you worked on and forced on your family, too? ;)  

Cover Reveal ~ Voodoo Vows by Diana Marie DuBois

Title: Voodoo Vows 

Author: Diana Marie DuBois 

Series: Voodoo Vows #1

Genre: Paranormal

Publisher: Three Danes Publishing LLC

Release Date: TBA

Cover Reveal organized by: RBTL World of Books Blog Tours

Add: Goodreads

Blurb/Synopsis:

Rosie Delacroix returns to New Orleans after her mother’s disappearance, is pulled into an unimagined world and gets more than she bargained for. 

Ensconced in the life of magic and voodoo, she’s surrounded by unlikely allies.

Julian Quibodeaux, an old flame, re-enters her life and their love is once again reignited like dry tinder to a flame. However, he’s been cursed and unaware he holds a terrible secret…One that could destroy their relationship. 

She’ll be tested in many ways, to save the man she loves. Will her friends, and an unusual new-found gift, be enough for her to survive her journey?

About the Author
As a young girl, Diana Marie DuBois was an avid reader and was often found in the local public library. Now
you find her working in her local library. Hailing from the culture filled state of Louisiana, just outside of New Orleans; she lives with her three Great Danes and four spunky mutts. 

Her biggest inspiration has always been the infamous Anne Rice and her tales of Vampires. It was those very stories that inspired Diana to take hold of her dreams and begin writing. She is now working on her first series, Voodoo Vows.

Places to find Diana

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Website

Ride of Your Life by Shevi Arnold ~ Blog Tour: Review

Welcome to my stop on the Ride of Your Life Blog Tour hosted by Girls Heart Books Tours. Click here to follow along with the tour schedule. 

Title: Ride of Your Life

Author: Shevi Arnold

Published: July 18th 2012

Genre: YA Paranormal

Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Tracy Miller met the love of her life...thirty years after her own death.

Tracy was working at the House of Horrors at the Amazing Lands Theme Park when the fire broke out. Instead of running, she lost her life trying to save eleven-year-old Mack. Now thirty years have passed, and suddenly everything changes with the arrival of two new ghosts: a little girl named Ashley and a cute, seventeen-year-old boy named Josh. Josh would do anything for Tracy, but can he help her let go of the past? 

Ride of Your Life is a bittersweet, romantic, YA ghost story that was inspired by a true event, the Great Adventure Haunted Castle fire, which killed eight teenagers in 1984, exactly thirty years ago this May 11th. It is a fantasy novel about undying love, and it won third-place in Smart Writer's Write It Now (W.I.N.) contest in the YA category, which was judged by Alex Flinn, the author of Beastly and Cloaked.

Hang on. Love can be as terrifying as a roller coaster, but it can also be the Ride of Your Life.

Additional information about the Six Flags Great Adventure Haunted Castle fire - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_Castle_(Six_Flags_Great_Adventure)

Book Links

Goodreads | BookLikes

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Smashwords

Ride of Your Life was a cute and fun book to read. The cover immediately caught my eye; I LOVE roller coasters, and now I'm even more excited for summer than I already am! This is a perfect time of year to read this book. 

I liked Tracy even though she takes care of everyone but herself. She made the decision to stay with Mack at the Amazing Land theme park rather than go into the light. She's only going to go when Mack is able to go, and so they hang around the park. It's been thirty years since they died, and with the way he aggravates her on purpose, they seem like they were brother and sister even before the accident. 

Mack wasn't a likable character for me in the beginning, but once I delved into what his life was like when he was still alive, I understood him better. Plus he died when he was only eleven years old. He had so much life ahead of him - I felt sad he died so young. I'd probably be bitter and jaded, too.  

I was sad for Ashley, too, and especially her mom. Though I didn't want any characters to be dead, I think Ashley and Josh made a wonderful addition to Tracy and Mack's little family. Ashley brought out a softer side of Tracy that I really liked seeing, and I think Josh did the same for Mack. Josh's love for Tracy was unwavering no matter how many times she tried to push him away. I'd love to have Josh in my life! 

Ride of Your Life is more about emotions and living and dying rather than action and adventure, which I personally appreciated. I love stories exploring what it means to really and truly live. There were times I laughed, and times I shed a few tears. I would have added a fifth star except at times Tracy and Mack teaching the rules of being a ghost to Ashley and Josh didn't quite keep my attention. The story of these four characters was beautifully told, and I believe Arnold accomplished what she set out to do when writing this novel.    

My Rating:

About the Author 

Shevi Arnold grew up in Philadelphia, and her family had a season pass to Great Adventure in the early 1980s. She was nineteen-years-old and studying overseas when a fellow college student asked her if she had heard about the Great Adventure Haunted Castle fire. Eight teenagers had lost their lives. Like many, Shevi was shocked by the news. In her mind, she wanted to give that tragedy a happy ending. Ride of Your Life is the result.

Shevi loves writing, illustrating, and making people laugh - and she's been doing all three since 1987 when she started working as an editorial cartoonist for a newsweekly. She's also worked as a comics magazine editor, as an arts-and-entertainment writer specializing in comedy and children's entertainment, and as a consumer columnist. 

Nowadays, though, she enjoys writing (and sometimes illustrating) humorous fiction, fantasy, and science fiction for children, teens, and geeks of all ages. Her other books include Toren the Teller's Tale, Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey, and Why My Love Life Sucks (The Legend of Gilbert the Fixer, book one). She is currently working on Why It Still Mega Bites, the second book in the Gilbert the Fixer series.

Author Links

Email - shevia {at} hotmail {dot} com

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